The present invention is generally directed to a system and method for capturing body tissue samples. The present invention is more particularly directed t: such a system and method which finds particular application for the isolation, resection, and capture of lymph nodes or other tissue.
One important step in the treatment of pulmonary cancer is nodule resection for staging. Staging refers to the evaluation of organ compromise and cancer dissemination when a nodule is discovered and cancer is suspected. One important surgical step of staging is the sampling of bronchial lymph nodes.
One frequently employed procedure to sample lymph nodes in the thorax and bronchial system is mediastinoscopy. Through an incision made on the anterior portion of the neck, a tubular instrument called a mediastinoscope is inserted and placed anterior to the trachea. The mediastinoscope permits direct visualization of the lymph nodes located in the paratracheal and parabronchial areas. The size of the instrument is large enough to allow the insertion of grabbing tools to dissect regional lymph nodes during surgery. Once removed, the resected lymph nodes are sent to pathology for analysis. This procedure is routinely done before thoracic surgery is performed in most patients with thoracic tumors, in particular, suspected lung cancer.
Although bronchial lymph node visualization and resection through the mediastinoscope is commonly performed, the procedure is not without its problems. For example, the procedure is limited to the taking of one lymph node sample at a time. Since a plurality of lymph node samples are generally required to be resected for proper staging, the procedure can be relatively long. In addition, the instrumentation to grab and resection the lymph node samples is often the cause of problems. For example, surgeons generally utilize long instruments like ring forceps to suspend the target lymph node to be resected and removed. Such instruments can result in the potential squeezing and damage to lymph nodes that may contain cancer cells. Obviously, this is a condition to be avoided.
Hence, there is a need in the art for an improved system and method for the capturing of body tissue samples. More particularly, there is such a need for a system and method for capturing bronchial and thoracic lymph nodes suspected of being cancerous. The present invention addresses that need.